What to expect when your Pet has to be admitted to Blackrock Veterinary Clinic
Firstly, one of our Blackrock Veterinary nurses will greet you on arrival to check your pet in, usually between 8.00 am – 9.30 am. They will go through any consent forms that may need to be signed- this form will list what procedure your pet is coming in for and gives up permission for the administration of sedation/anaesthesia. You can also ask the nurse to make a note of any other minor procedures you would like performed, such as nail clipping, ear cleaning or anal gland expression. A mutually suitable collection time is decided, your pet is weighed and taken to our hospitalisation room.
Once admitted we check your pet thoroughly, and the nurses will in the vast majority of cases place an intravenous catheter into your pet’s foreleg. At this point we will collect a blood sample if we are running pre-anaesthetic bloods on your pet. This can be done for all pets but is highly advised for older or unwell patients.
Prior to the procedure, we give your pet an injectable sedative combined with some analgesia (painkiller) – this is known as a pre-med.
Once this has taken effect, we administer the anaesthetic induction agent via the i/v catheter. Once your pet is asleep, an endotracheal tube is passed down the trachea to facilitate breathing and administration of oxygen mixed with an anaesthetic gas to keep your pet asleep. During this period your pet will be hooked up to a monitor which tracks your pet's breathing, heart, oxygen levels etc whilst under anaesthesia and is also monitored manually by one of our highly trained nurses from start to finish to ensure your pet's safety.
To minimise risks of contamination, we adhere to strict standards of cleanliness and sterilisation. We clip the hair around the surgical site, fully scrub the area with an antiseptic solution and transfer your pet to the Op Room for his / her surgery. Further pain relief will be administered to ensure your pet is as comfortable as possible after their procedure.
Once the surgery has been completed, we slowly and carefully allow your pet to wake up and only return them to their bed once they regain consciousness. Our kennel room provides a comfortable recovery area for your pet as we have a temperature-controlled system in place to ensure your pet is never too cold or too warm. Our nurses will offer food and water once your pet seems awake enough and continue to closely monitor them until it is time to go back to your Dublin home.
At home time your pet may appear quite bright, this will be due to the pain relief they received as well as the excellent patient care and anaesthetic techniques employed. However, once they get home you may find they are a bit tired, which is to be expected after the surgery and anaesthesia they have just been through.
One of the Vets or Veterinary Nurses will discharge your pet and go through the aftercare needed over the following 10 days or so, in particular being very mindful of any post-op pain relief that may be required. Aftercare instructions and guidelines will be provided in both verbal and written form, and we will answer questions at this time. We will also book you in for a post-op check so the vet can check on your pet’s recovery and see that the surgical wound is healing well.
All that’s left for you as an owner, is to increase the amount of TLC to you beloved pet, while they recover. Generally, we find our pets recover much quicker from quite major procedures than we do.
If you would like any further information about our admission procedure please contact us for a chat at Blackrock Vets in Dublin